1. High graphene permeability for room temperature silicon deposition: The role of defects
- Author
-
Fatme Jardali, Holger Vach, Paola Castrucci, Roberto Flammini, Manuela Scarselli, C Lechner, Pascal Pochet, S. Colonna, M. De Crescenzi, F. Ronci, Matteo Salvato, Isabelle Berbezier, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF), National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Dipartimento di Fisica and Unità CNISM, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata [Roma], Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Institut des Matériaux, de Microélectronique et des Nanosciences de Provence (IM2NP), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Université de Toulon (UTLN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratory of Atomistic Simulation (LSIM), Modélisation et Exploration des Matériaux (MEM), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire de Grenoble (IRIG), Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire de Grenoble (IRIG), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Laboratoire de physique des interfaces et des couches minces [Palaiseau] (LPICM), École polytechnique (X)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Istituto di Struttura della Materia (CNR-ISM), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Roma] (CNR), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Dipartimento de Fisica, Università degli studi di Roma II, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)-Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata [Roma], Université de Toulon (UTLN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU), Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire de Grenoble (IRIG), Dipartimento di Fisica [Roma Tor Vergata], Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École polytechnique (X), and National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)
- Subjects
Materials science ,Silicon ,Intercalation (chemistry) ,STM ,chemistry.chemical_element ,02 engineering and technology ,010402 general chemistry ,Epitaxy ,DFT ,01 natural sciences ,hot adatoms ,Settore FIS/03 - Fisica della Materia ,law.invention ,Condensed Matter::Materials Science ,Lattice constant ,law ,Physics::Atomic and Molecular Clusters ,silicene, graphite, stm, Raman, nickel ,General Materials Science ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,defects ,[PHYS]Physics [physics] ,Silicene, graphene, scanning tunneling microscopy ,Graphene ,Silicene ,Atoms in molecules ,silicon ,General Chemistry ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,0104 chemical sciences ,chemistry ,Chemical physics ,[PHYS.COND.CM-MS]Physics [physics]/Condensed Matter [cond-mat]/Materials Science [cond-mat.mtrl-sci] ,scanning tunneling microscopy ,Scanning tunneling microscope ,0210 nano-technology - Abstract
International audience; Graphene (Gr) is known to be an excellent barrier preventing atoms and molecules to diffuse through it. This is due to the carbon atom arrangement in a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb structure with a very small lattice parameter thus forming an electron cloud that prevents atoms and molecules crossing. Nonetheless at high an-nealing temperatures, intercalation of atoms through graphene occurs, opening the path for formation of vertical heterojunctions constituted of two-dimensional layers. In this paper, we report on the ability of silicon atoms to penetrate the graphene network, fully epitaxially grown on a Ni(111) surface, even at room temperature. Our scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments show that the presence of defects like vacancies and disloca-tions in the graphene lattice favor the Si atoms intercalation, thus forming two-dimensional, flat and disordered islands below the Gr layer. Ab-initio molecular dynamics calculations confirm that Gr defects are necessary for Si intercalation at room temperature and show that: i) a hypothetical intercalated silicene layer cannot be stable for more than 8 ps and ii) the corresponding Si atoms completely lose their in-plane order resulting in a random planar distribution and form strong covalent bonds with Ni atoms.
- Published
- 2020